Dodd said Friday that Democrats and Republicans on the Hill are coming together to support the Bush administration's developing plan to buy up bad debt from financial institutions and get the credit system working again. Dodd told ABC's "Good Morning America" that the nation's credit is seizing up and people can't get loans.
The ranking Republican on the Banking Committee, Senator Richard Shelby, predicts the new bailout plan will cost at least half a trillion dollars.
"We hope to move very quickly. Time is of the essence," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said after Paulson and Bernanke briefed congressional leaders Thursday night.
Shelby says the nation has "been lurching from one crisis to another." Both veteran lawmakers say this is the most serious financial crisis they've seen in their years in Congress.
"I don't say any prudent money manager would say we're out of the woods, but right in this moment it all seems positive and leading toward an upward move for the market going into Friday session," said Scott Fullman, director of derivative investment strategy for New York-based institutional broker WJB Capital Group.
Fullman said the biggest bonus of any potential government plan is that it is being put together to help the banking industry as a whole. Until now, the Treasury and Fed have selectively bailed out institutions that were the most vulnerable.
Big bailout: Where things stand
New bailout planned
